The key facts
- Second fire within 24 hours at the Eskom plant: the area of the fire at the packaging warehouse is preliminarily 100 square meters
- 37 rescuers and 11 units of equipment are working at the scene; no reports of casualties
- The mayor ordered an extraordinary meeting of the emergency situations commission on industrial facility safety issues
Second fire within 24 hours
The Eskom pharmaceutical concern in Stavropol has been hit by fire incidents for the second day in a row. Less than 24 hours after a fire broke out in an elevator shaft, flames erupted at a packaging warehouse: the area of the new fire has preliminarily reached 100 square meters, and heavy smoke is visible over the facility. This was reported by the city head Ivan Ulyanchenko. City emergency services have joined the response effort; 37 rescuers and 11 units of equipment are working on the plant grounds. No information about casualties from the new fire has been received so far, and firefighters continue to battle the blaze, according to the regional Emergency Ministry (EMERCOM) directorate.
Reaction of the city authorities
“This is already the second incident at the facility in a week, and I am keeping the situation under personal control. Experts will look into the causes of the fire,” Ulyanchenko wrote on his channel on the Max messenger. The mayor ordered an extraordinary meeting of the emergency situations commission to be convened with the participation of the heads of Stavropol's industrial sector, where they intend to once again discuss compliance with fire safety requirements at the city's enterprises.
The first fire and context
The first fire at Eskom occurred on the morning of November 5: flames broke out in an elevator shaft on the third floor of a production building. Rescuers had to dismantle metal structures to reach the source of the fire; 20 people were evacuated from the premises, and the fire area was 30 square meters. 29 EMERCOM personnel and seven units of equipment worked at the scene; the fire was fully extinguished, with no deaths or injuries. The concern produces medicines, including infusion solutions for medical institutions; it is not yet known whether the new fire affected production lines.
Major fires in Stavropol
Major industrial fires have already been a problem for the city: in July, as Life.ru reported, at a paint and varnish materials warehouse in the SKIP Master industrial park the fire spread to five thousand square meters. City authorities cited the depressurization of a gas cylinder as the preliminary cause; about 150 people were evacuated from the warehouses, and more than 160 rescuers, 36 units of equipment and a Mi-8 helicopter took part in firefighting, with one person injured. After that incident, the prosecutor's office of the Industrial District organized an inspection of compliance with fire and industrial safety requirements.
